Travels with Stuart

John Steinbeck, one of America’s most popular authors of the last century, wrote many books, including Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men and Cannery Row. Some were made into movies, and he received several awards for them. My favorite was Travels with Charley. This chronicled his adventures throughout the United States, driving a pickup truck with a special cabin built on the back and accompanied by the family poodle Charley. The time was in the sixties, and the book had been suggested by no less a public figure than Adlai Stevenson.
So, with a tip of the hat to Mr. Steinbeck I have titled this work Travels with Stuart. Stuart is not a poodle, even though at one time his hair hung down to his shoulders. He is now a member of Piper High School’s Junior ROTC program, and he has a “buzz” cut that looks good on him. He is my oldest grandson.

When my wife Theresa and I were making annual pilgrimages to battlefields of the War of Northern Aggression, we would on occasion deviate from this invasion of the Nawth and pick up Stuart. We would visit U. S. Navy ships which are now museums. Our favorites are at Charleston’s Patriot Point, where we would clamber up the ladders of the U. S. S. Yorktown and marvel at the workings of this giant ship. Then Theresa would ensconce herself on a bench while Stuart and I would explore the destroyer and the submarine.

After Theresa’s death I did not plan on any more trips. A call from Stuart changed that: “Okay, Homer, we are going to Gettysburg, and Dad is driving us”. I could not resist such a command, even though it was from a teenager much below me in rank and age.

The Gettysburg trip was good, and I refrained from correcting the battlefield guides when they leaned a bit too far toward the Union side. Southbound took us through the Shenandoah Valley, a spot that is so beautiful that words cannot do it justice. We saw General Lee’s vault, and placed coins on his horse Traveler’s grave, just outside Lee Chapel. The two of us (Dad was on his cell phone) walked through the cemetery and stood before Stonewall Jackson’s grave. I told him why the fresh lemons were scattered there.

New Market had been covered the day before. The “Field of Lost Shoes” was especially poignant, since many of the young students from Virginia Military Institute that died there were Stuart’s age.

On other excursions Stuart and I have covered Shiloh battlefield, where we spoke of the anomaly of the name: “Shiloh” means “peace“, but one of the bloodiest battles of the War was fought there; the marks of combat still are evident on trees.

We traced Nathan Bedford Forrest’s excursions through Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi. Forrest was rated by many historians as the best tactical general of either side. We went to Okalona; his brother died there in his arms. We stood by Tishomingo Creek at Brice’s Crossroads, and marveled at his ability to “call the shots” against an arrogant enemy.

Last year Stuart was with me when I acquired “Ron The Elephant” of local Republican fame. We had gone to Patriot’s Point and then had gotten underway for Wilmington. As we were passing through North Myrtle Beach I spotted a display of statues. We pulled in, and I purchased a six foot by four foot image of an elephant, made of resin, and we brought him back to Sneads in the rear of my Explorer. Stuart fully expected us to be stopped somewhere along the way by a state trooper.

This year “Travels with Stuart” began in Sunrise, his home town, and took us through a part of Florida that is not as well known as the lands that border the interstates and the toll roads. We rode north for a time and then cut over through Indiantown and Okeechobee. I told him of the great cattle drives, much like those that made the West famous in the 1800s. We skirted Lake Okeechobee, where I was once tempted to assist some locals in establishing a barge terminal. We went through Sebring and into Lakeland.

Lakeland is the home of my college. Florida Southern does not have a football team nor a stadium, but it has something that no other institution possesses. It has twelve buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, which makes it the largest concentration of his architecture in the world. I described how I felt when I met Mr. Wright and when I sat in an audience of young students and heard him say to us: “There is probably no one here that is intelligent enough to understand what I am about to tell you”. What a way to attract the attention of a group of college students! Wright once said: “At an early age I was forced to choose between an honest arrogance and a false humility. I chose the former, and I have never regretted it”.

We then cut over to a coastal route and visited Cedar Key. In 1923 my father had the choice of two towns in which to establish his Ford dealership. One was Chattahoochee and the other was Cedar Key. I am glad he chose the former.

As we drove I told him about the towns that we went through. Perry, the “Forest Capital”, had a Ford dealer who was single, as was I, in the 1960’s, and Theresa dated him while she was dating me. This amused Stuart somewhat, because young folks do not think of parents and grandparents as ever having been romantic. I showed him where Ted Turner’s plantation is, and we commiserated with Ted because he was once married to Hanoi Jane.

Arrival in Sneads was uneventful, but the days that have followed have been exciting to him. Stuart really likes Jackson County, with its rivers and lakes and open spaces. We had breakfast with The Runner one morning at The Gazebo. The conversation, as usual, was great, but a three way one this time.

Evenings have often been spent attending fund raisers for candidates. Stuart reveled in listening to folks like Jack Pizza, who described to him how Air Force pilots were trained to deliver the “where did everyone go” bomb. Michelle Kimbrough sold him on trying for helicopter training when he enlists in the Army. He heard from former paratroopers and from Marines (there are no “former” Marines”) and retired Navy men.

He met Marti Coley, and shared with her a political handout that had been autographed by her late husband when he ran for the Legislature. David wrote “be sure to vote when you are old enough”, and I suspect that he will do just that. He was impressed with other candidates but even more so with the attendees that took time to talk with him on an adult level.

Thursday found us at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola. I collected my salute at the gate, which impressed him, and he impressed me by properly landing an F-14 Tomcat on the deck of a carrier while “flying” a simulator.

We visited Partners for Pets Friday, carrying old towels and a cash donation, and he learned about Phil Rotollo, the founder. Saturday we went to Seacrest Wolf Preserve. He donned a vest and worked as a volunteer on the tour led by Cynthia and Wayne Watkins. Cynthia praised him and awarded him a “totally awesome” wolf tee shirt.

My “Travels with Stuart” are not yet over. I am counting on them continuing for a year or two, and leaving me with a grand legacy of great times with a fine travel companion, and perhaps material for another column or two.